Kamaru Usman has always done the brunt of his talking in the Octagon with his fists.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion had two vocal rivals during his reign in the forms of Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington. In all four fights, Usman remained unrattled by his opposition and earned pairs of unanimous decisions and knockouts, splitting them one-a-piece between those challengers.
UFC 296 was a particularly more volatile fight week than normal this past week. The pre-fight press conferences provided heated interactions between both match ups of Covington and current Welterweight champion, Leon Edwards, as well as Middleweight champion and challenger, Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis, who fight at UFC 297 next month (Jan. 20, 2024). For Usman, it’s not necessary, personally, but he understands why line-riding (or crossing) comments have become common in the modern day.
“Nowadays, we’re in these weird times in society to where everybody wants to be seen, everybody wants to be heard,” Usman said on the PBD Podcast (h/t MMA Junkie). “It’s information overload. We have these mics, we have these phones, we have these things that just — we all want to just be out there. People just — they’re willing to say or do anything, whether it’s men, whether it’s women willing to do and say anything just to be seen. These guys are just kind of being lost in that, to where they just — ‘I’m not going to be seen if I don’t say this or cross that line or do this.’”
Ahead of Edwards vs. Covington, Usman was somewhat surprisingly complimentary of his old rival, Covington, which led to what felt like a temporary hatchet burial between the rivals. Ultimately, “The Nigerian Nightmare” believes his lack of banter throughout his career has been a possible negative. He just hasn’t ever felt the need, considering his results.
“For me, I’ve never been that kind of guy,” Usman said. “I guess that’s kind of been a knock on me. Some people didn’t like the fact that when I’m dominating everyone, I’m not belittling them. I’m not saying this or saying that.
“There wasn’t a line that [Conor] McGregor wasn’t willing to cross,” he continued. “We saw where that got him. McGregor’s probably one of the most famous mixed martial arts fighters ever, no doubt. With that, you have all these young kids now looking at that and going, ‘Oh yeah, I can just say and do whatever I want to do that’s going to make me famous.’”